There has been a recent push from the diabetes community to find clarity and transparency in the way that insulin is priced and made accessible to the people who rely upon the essential medication to live. There have been industry summits, non-profits, grassroot campaigns, and high-profile politicians who have been bringing the astronomical price hikes […].

Some people don’t understand why people with diabetes get upset at the price of insulin. They see insulin for sale at a relatively reasonable price in Walmart and don’t see the problem. These insulins are not the answer to the rapid rise in prices for more popular insulins.

Although the investigation doesn’t focus narrowly upon how diabetes medications are priced, it does focus on how PBMs go about their business. Some PBMs also manage prescription drug claims and pricing agreements for labor union benefit plans and workers’ compensation insurance carriers.

I had a face to face meeting with Eli Lilly yesterday, speaking specifically about insulin prices. This is what they want you to know: The spike in insulin pricing was spurred by the Pharmacy Benefits Managers. It seems as though to “fix” the problem, insulin companies felt the logical thing to do would be to inflate the list price of insulin so the Pharmacy Benefits Managers FEEL like they are getting a deal. Compitition can drive down prices.

Within the show, the character Rumpelstiltskin could perform wonderful acts of magic, but never without first warning the person whose wish is being granted, “Don’t forget, magic always comes with a price.” But…(you knew that was coming,) Their magic always comes with a price. They negotiate prices and who loses? But my boys are the ones paying the price for that good….to I used to be an avid watcher of the ABC show “Once Upon A Time.”

In 2013, sales of Lantus earned Sanofi some $8 billion, and the drug company felt comfortable enough to raise the price of its basal insulin twice in a year. diabetes price environment which will impact our diabetes sales throughout 2015,” Viehbacher said in a FiercePharma report.

Congress Re-evaluating Medical Services Pricing System A bipartisan group of legislators has drafted a bill that would reshape the way the nation pays doctors, responding to criticism that the current method of valuing medical procedures misprices payments. The pricing system used by Medicare and most private insurers depends upon assessments made by the American Medical Association, the chief lobbying group for physicians. MORE >>

Researchers examined the interplay between supersize pricing strategies and the effect on health by evaluating both marketing theories and public policy implications. The researchers found that supersize pricing strategies not only lead to greater purchase and consumption, but that they do so by impacting important consumer goals in unrelated areas, including by decreasing the importance placed on health goals. MORE >>

These little bumps in the night are the cost of not consciously (or unconsciously) overtreating an overnight low. Rather than eat my entire pantry, I started with a couple of glucose tabs. Once that didn’t work, I had some juice. Eventually, as documented, all was well but the time spent nursing alarms and waiting for things to be “normal” is time spent not sleeping. It’s not fun. But it’s they expect you to react to a low blood glucose reading. MORE >>

As I've already addressed, a few weeks ago (see my post at [link] for more), Novo Nordisk's CEO Lars Rebien Sorensen rather unceremoniously announced he was retiring early (see [link] for more) which was kind of an acknowledgement that the era of easy price increases for its products in the U.S. t hit the fan over EpiPen price increases. have you seen the insane prices of insulin lately?" Is this price-matching a coincidence? MORE >>